BRENDAN WALSH EYES SECOND CLAIMING CROWN EMERALD VICTORY WITH KITODAN
Posted on August 18th, 2025
Photo caption: Kitodan (#9), shown winning at Horseshoe Indiana, looms boldly in Thursday’s $87,500 Claiming Crown Emerald Qualifier at Colonial Downs. (Credit: Coady Media)
Photo caption: Brendan Walsh (Credit: Coady Media)
NEW KENT, Va. (Aug. 18, 2025) — Colonial Downs will host Claiming Crown Preview Day on Thursday, Aug. 21, and trainer Brendan Walsh will participate with eyes on earning a spot in the 27th Annual Claiming Crown, as Kitodan ships to New Kent for the $87,500 Claiming Crown Emerald Qualifier.
Run under starter allowance conditions, the eight Preview Day races will offer a combined $550,000 in purses. The top two finishers in each race earn automatic berths in the Claiming Crown Championships, set for Nov. 15 at Churchill Downs. Winners also receive a travel stipend of up to $2,000 from the Virginia HBPA, provided they start in the championship races in Louisville.
The Emerald Qualifier, scheduled as Race 11, is run at 1 1/16 miles on turf and drew an oversubscribed field of 16 older males who have started for a claiming price of $25,000 or less in 2024-25. The 3-1 morning-line favorite is defending champion Echo Lane.
Pocket Racing’s graded stakes winner Kitodan has changed barns four times—from Jorge Delgado to Mike Maker to Eric Foster to Larry Rivelli—most recently in February when he was claimed for $12,500 at Turfway Park. The 6-year-old gelding won that race and both of his starts for Walsh, entering Preview Day on a three-race win streak.
“Marc Wampler, who does Pocket Aces, picked him out,” Walsh said. “(Kitodan) has got plenty of mileage on the clock. We’ve just been keeping him fresh and happy. He’s got a great zest for racing. He seems to love it.”
Despite being far back at the stretch call in his last two starts at Horseshoe Indianapolis, Kitodan rallied to win both.
“He’s needed every single inch he’s gotten,” Walsh said. “I don’t know how he won the last one. He’s a game horse.”
In a starter allowance at 1 1/16 miles in mid-July, Kitodan displayed a sharp turn of foot to catch Moogie Son, Gewurztraminer, and Underdressed – the last of which sits on the also-eligibles list for the Emerald Qualifier.
A graded stakes veteran, Kitodan owns nine career wins and $938,178 in earnings, including the 2022 Dueling Grounds Derby (G3), the Audubon at Churchill Downs, and the Rushaway at Turfway Park.
“He’s the type of horse you want to claim,” Walsh said. “When I trained for David Ross, he always looked for horses with a bit of potential—borderline graded stakes class—that just needed a change.”
Walsh, among the sport’s top trainers, has 60 graded stakes victories and a barn full of well-bred horses, many either developed from the start or imported from Europe. But his resume also includes major claiming game success stories, even winning the 2015 Claiming Crown Emerald with Key to Power.
“We claimed Key to Power out of Mike Tomlinson’s barn,” Walsh said. “He was bred out the wazoo. (Bill) Mott had him initially. He was a funny horse. He’d go in the gate screaming like a stallion and frighten all the gate guys.”
After winning the Emerald, Key to Power added the Teleprompter Stakes at Arlington Park, the Cliff Guilliams Handicap at Ellis Park, and was beaten only 2 1/2 lengths in the Fort Lauderdale (G2) at Gulfstream Park.
“That’s the only horse I’ve ever run in the Claiming Crown,” Walsh said. “They took it off the grass just before the race. A heavy storm rolled in, and as we were about to saddle, they said they were moving the races off the turf. They asked if we wanted to put toe grabs on, and I said no. I was confident he’d handle it. He was a cool horse.”
Before Key to Power, there was Cary Street, a $10,000 claim who went on to win the Greenwood Cup (G3) and Las Vegas Marathon (G2). More recently, there was Extravagant Kid, claimed by David Ross for $75,000 in 2018. Under Walsh’s care, he won seven stakes, including the 2021 Al Quoz Sprint (G1) in Dubai, and competed in the 2020 and 2021 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1).
Kitodan’s current form, back class, and connections suggest he’s well-positioned to have success on Preview Day and bring Walsh back to the Claiming Crown for round two.
Thursday’s 12-race card begins at 10:45 a.m. Eastern, starting with three steeplechase events. The $50,000 Glass Slipper Qualifier is Race 4, kicking off eight consecutive Claiming Crown Preview races.
